A Versatile Emulator Tool to Evaluate the Scalability of Edge Architectures in IoT Scenarios

In the past decade, Cloud Computing revolutionized the Information Technology industry by enabling cost-effective high computational power for various services. However, the emergence of technologies like the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 has created a demand for new methods of data processing due to the vast amounts of data generated by user devices and manufacturing industries. Edge Computing has emerged as a promising solution to address these challenges by reducing centralized processing. However, scalability is still one of the biggest challenges faced by the Internet of Things area. It is crucial, to know forehand the limits and how much stress an application can take. In order to get those numbers, companies have to spend large amounts of money on proof of concepts to test their solutions directly in a real environment. This paper introduces an innovative and adaptable emulation tool designed specifically for evaluating the scalability of Edge Computing architectures in Internet of Things scenarios. Our tool enables the design, experimentation, and testing of edge environments, facilitating the generation of accurate metrics for billing estimates, optimizing traffic control, and simulating delays. To validate the effectiveness of our tool, we present a case study in the field of smart agriculture, where the emulation tool successfully reproduces a vineyard use case and evaluates the scalability of the system.